“Where have you been?” I asked, grimacing again at his fat lip and the new shiner to match the one on the other eye.
“Detained for questioning, you could say,” Knight grumbled as he shook his head. Then he looked directly at me. “Are you okay, Dulce? Did those bastards hurt you?”
I swallowed hard, still reeling from the fact that these assholes were treating him with such disrespect. I could feel my hands fisting around the prison bars of my cell as anger roiled within me.
“Dulcie?” Knight repeated, snapping me out of my own thoughts since I hadn’t responded to his question.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, my voice belying my anger.
“Good,” Knight said, heaving a sigh of relief before looking back at me and frowning. “I hate seeing you in here.”
“Ditto.” I took a deep breath and tried to organize my thoughts because I had so many questions for him, I didn’t know where to start. “Knight, I need you to tell me what’s going on,” I managed. “You told Caressa and the judge that there are people above that have it out for you or was it just one person above you? What did you mean?”
Knight nodded, as if he, too, realized the need to get me up to speed and hopefully, now would be the best opportunity. I mean, it seemed like we had nothing but time. ‘Course, how much time was anyone’s guess. Somewhere in the back of my head, the thought that Knight was living on borrowed time suddenly emerged. His sentence had been ordered and I could only imagine it could be carried out any moment. That thought absolutely terrified me.
“I can’t tell you too much, Dulcie, or I’d be putting you in danger.”
“So tell me what you can,” I prodded, wondering how deeply involved he was.
“Remember how I told you Lokis have always been stuck in the Netherworld?”
I nodded, remembering the conversation well. “Yeah.”
“Well, there’s a reason I wasn’t. I was basically transferred to Splendor because I caused trouble for the Head of the Netherworld.”
“The Head of the Netherworld?” I repeated, sounding completely lost. “I didn’t even know there was a Head of the Netherworld.”
Knight glanced around himself, as if to find a place to sit but apparently noticing the stained cot, he just shrugged and remained standing. As he returned his attention back to me, he seemed to finally notice the creature cowering in the corner of the cell. There was a look of surprise on his face. “I didn’t realize I was sharing a cell.”
The creature nodded a greeting and then swallowed hard, not appearing to have grown any sense of confidence over the last ten minutes or so. Knight smiled warmly and then faced me again. “The organization here is set up like a hierarchy and the government is more along the lines of a dictatorship. The Head of the Netherworld is at the top of the hierarchy and what he says goes.”
I nodded, allowing this information to sink in. “So you upset the supreme chief then?”
Knight nodded. “Yes, so I was banished to Earth… the first Loki ever to make the trip. It suited me fine because I wanted out of here and the Netherworld gained what it wanted; to get rid of me.”
“But why did the Netherworld, or more specifically, the Head of the Netherworld, want to get rid of you in the first place?”
He shook his head and sighed like it was too long and complicated to explain. “I can’t get into the specifics, Dulce. Let’s just say I upset the apple cart and rather than turning it into a big legal situation, they found it easier to relocate me. They laid me off here and got me a position in Splendor. And, of course, I complied with no questions asked.”
“But now that you’re back here?”
He swallowed and looked away, shaking his head. “I swore I’d never return—it was one of their stipulations for my transference.”
I felt my heart sink. It was my fault that he’d come back here and broken his promise to never return. Now, because he’d breached the contract, the Head of the Netherworld had ordered his death. It was just so unfair. Then something occurred to me—Knight hadn’t willingly returned here at all. “But I don’t understand… Didn’t the ANC come for you?” I started, remembering Trey’s vision of the two ANC-uniformed employees who took Knight away. “It’s not like you returned voluntarily!”
Knight nodded and then sighed. “Yes, they did. I’m convinced that this whole subject of calling me to the High Court for questioning regarding Quillan’s escape was just a cover. The big man upstairs knew he could get rid of me forever without having to do it under the table so he jumped at the opportunity.”
“And you played right into their hands by saying it was you who released Quillan instead of me…”
“Yep, I guess I did.” He was quiet for a second or two and focused his attention on his hands which were wrapped around the cell bars. Then he glanced up at me again. “Don’t think I regret it, Dulcie. I have no remorse for my decision, none.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand you.” Then I felt the sting of tears in my eyes again. “You risked your life for me.”
He nodded. “I know,” he smiled. “And you did exactly the same for me.”
I smiled as I thought about it. “Guess we’re just two love-sick idiots.” I felt my eyes widen as I heard the words leave my lips. I hadn’t even considered the fact that maybe I was in love with Knight. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, though, it became pretty perfectly clear. I mean, I wouldn’t just risk my life for anyone.
“It’s okay, Dulce,” Knight said with a laugh but he still sounded depressed, probably due to the situation.
“Why… why does the Head of the Netherworld want you… out of the way?” I asked quickly, suddenly aware that I had basically just admitted my love for Knight in a prison cell complete with goblins, shape shifters, Cyclops and cockroaches to share my joyful moment.
Knight nodded as if he understood and agreed with me—now was not the time to discuss our feelings. “I knew too much.”
“And you can’t tell me what that ‘too much’ was, can you?”
“Nope,” he finished, sighing deeply. “It amounts to the fact that someone up there is threatened by my being alive.” He glanced at his shoes and shook his head. “So now they’ve trumped up some ridiculous case and they’re having the last laugh.”
“Regardless of what happens to me? Regardless if I prove it was my fault all along?” I couldn’t finish my statement because it did nothing but depress me. My self-sacrifice couldn’t save Knight. I’d simply managed to damn us both.
He shook his head. “It makes no difference, Dulcie. They aren’t going to let me go.” He paused for a few seconds. “Now I’m worried about what that means for you.”
I slammed my fist into the bars of my prison cell and stifled the mute frustration pounding through me. “There has to be someone who will understand, someone who will hear us out?”
Knight shook his head again, this time sighing. “Caressa is the only honest person in this whole system; but her hands are tied. She has to take orders from the Head of the Netherworld and he’s as crooked as they come. He’s also at the top of the so-called ladder. There’s nothing she can do.”
“Knight, please tell me…” I started, wanting, no needing to know what this was all about. What was going on that was so bad that the Head of the Netherworld wanted Knight to pay the ultimate price?
Knight’s eyes were hard and his lips were tight. “That’s all I can say, Dulcie. My only hope now is to make sure you leave here safely and the less you know, the better off you are.”
“But you,” I interjected.
“I’m a walking dead man.”
“Don’t say that,” I said in a hysterical voice, feeling a lump form in my throat. I shook my head, trying to force the tears to subside. “Don’t ever say that again.” But I knew the truth just as well as he did.
He smiled down at me. “Have I ever told you how much I admire you, Dulce? How I’ve never met another woman like you?”
I re
turned the smile and felt tears starting in my eyes again but I didn’t say anything, afraid my voice would crack. I was spared the need to respond though, when the goblin guard suddenly appeared carrying a tray with a few pieces of bread, some slices of cheese and a cup of water. The Cyclops came up behind him and stepped out to unlock my cell. Before doing so, he glanced at me with the same expression of hunger I’d witnessed before.
“No funny stuff when I unlock the cell,” he said in a deep and dumb-sounding voice. “I ain’t in a mood ta deal wif it.”
“Bread and water, seriously?” I asked, shaking my head and crossing my arms against my chest. I was suddenly incredibly angry—as if the bread and water on the tray was the last straw in this horrible mess. “Don’t bother. I’m not hungry.”
The Cyclops faced the goblin and frowned. “Bitchy, ain’t she?”
The goblin frowned. “Yeah, she got attitude.”
The Cyclops faced me again and smiled a gap-toothed, ugly grin as he opened my cell door. Before the goblin could step in, the Cyclops circumvented him. “I think she needs ta be shown ah lesson.”
“You keep the hell away from me,” I said, my voice harsh as acid. I started to back up, toward the rear of my cell.
“Don’t touch her,” Knight yelled from across the way.
“You shut up,” the Cyclops said, turning to face him. “Unless ya want me ta cum in there an’ rough ya up again.”
“Come in here anytime, asshole,” Knight seethed. “But touch her and I will kill you.”
The Cyclops laughed an ugly sound and glanced back at Knight again. “How ya gonna kill me when yer in there, stupid?”
“It ain’t ah good idea, Clyde” the goblin said and, realizing his friend wasn’t convinced, bent down to put the tray of food on the ground. Once he stood up again, he acted like he was going to come into my cell with the Cyclops but hesitated, revealing his fear of the other guard.
“Who’s gonna find out?” the Cyclops asked, turning to face the goblin. “Yer so afraid o’ that idiot woman Brandenburg an’ she ain’t gonna do shit.”
“Don’t do it, Clyde,” the goblin warned again. “I need this job an’ you do too.”
Clyde waved him away like a fly and faced me again, his ugly smile back, wide and appalling. “When do we ever git a fairy in here ta play wif? Huh?”
“Never,” the goblin answered as he held onto my cell bars and watched me, sniffing the air like he was trying to catch my smell.
“Stay the hell away from me,” I warned again, aware of exactly how weighty my warning was, considering I had no magic to back me up. Clyde was so big, he could basically break me in half.
“C‘mere little fairy; big daddy gonna teach ya how ta play,” he said. He kept approaching as I continued to retreat. Pretty soon I felt the rough texture of the wall against my back. I was pinned. Great.
“I ain’t gonna be rough unless ya fight me, girly,” he said as he reached for my face. He ran a dirty index finger across my cheek, trailing it down my neck and ending at my breast. He paused and then palmed my breast and squeezed.
I could feel my heartbeat pounding through my body as I tried to calm myself, in order to figure out the best way out of this. “It’s not worth it.”
“You are going against orders from Headquarters,” Knight yelled, his tone frenzied.
The Cyclops turned to Knight and that’s when I pushed myself forward, easily squeezing past him and running hell-bent for the cell door, where the goblin faced Knight. All I had to do was push the goblin off balance and make my escape. ‘Course, how far I could get was a good question, considering both guards still held the keys to the main door..
It turned out that I never even needed to plan that far ahead because I forgot about the little things on my back called wings. That is, until the Cyclops grabbed hold of one and yanked. I’m sure the feeling of intense agony was due to the fact that he’d just ripped my wing either right off me or in half. I shrieked as the pain hit me and then, before I could comprehend it, I felt myself being thrown against the cell wall, where the cold, lead bars met me straight in the forehead.
“Dulcie!” I heard Knight scream but everything went black for a second or two as I felt myself falling. Something cold smacked my cheek but I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes. It was like they were glued shut.
“Bitch!” When I opened my eyes, the Cyclops was on top of me, his fist right in my face. I closed my eyes, savoring the darkness as I felt my lip split and the warmth of my blood dripping down my cheek and pooling in my ear. I couldn’t say I felt pain, though. Instead it was like I was in a dream state, seeing the black of night, complete with stars and then opening my eyes again to find the prison cell around me.
“You like it rough, huh?” I glanced up at the ugly face above me and felt like I wanted to cry or throw up as cold, hard reality began to set in. The stars of delirium started to fade away, and I with them. Then it dawned on me that I had to have hit my head hard against the prison bars.
I pushed against the Cyclops, deciding right then and there that I was going to defend myself. I wasn’t going to make this easy for him. But it felt like trying to push a wall. He laughed in my face, the sour smell of his breath lodging in my nostrils until I thought I’d be sick for sure.
“Get the fuck off her!” Knight screamed. The Cyclops glanced up at him and with a dirty smile, grabbed hold of my t-shirt and pulled, ripping it in half. He tore it off me, until I was clad in only my bra and jeans.
I pulled my arm back and landed a good punch right across his cheek, momentarily stunning him. I flipped myself to my hands and knees and started to get up when I felt his immense weight throwing me to the ground again. I hit the cement hard and felt the air forcibly expelled from my lungs.
As I was trying to catch my breath, the bastard was on me again, this time tearing at my jeans, trying to pull them off and down my hips. I attempted to pull myself out of his grasp but since I couldn’t breathe, the situation was basically hopeless.
“Leave me alone!” I screamed again, ready to claw my way from him when the vision of black dress shoes before me suddenly took me by surprise. Before I knew what to think, I felt the Cyclops’ body torn from me and the sound of crashing—of something big hitting the wall.
“You do not force yourself on a lady!”
I would have known that upper class English accent anywhere.
Bram.
“Bram?” I repeated in shock, wondering if I was dreaming all this or if Bram really had pulled a total Spiderman move. I took a deep breath and crawled to the far side of my cell, forcing my head up so I could watch Bram pin the Cyclops against the wall, his hand wrapped around the much beefier man’s neck. What looked like glitter covered the floor but it wasn’t glitter. I knew better—it was fairy dust. I glanced over my shoulder to see my wing laying limply against my shoulder, torn and ragged.
“Where is that bastard goblin?” Bram asked, turning to face me with fangs.
I figured he meant the goblin guard and I looked around, finding him slouched in the corner of my cell, as if trying to remain unnoticed.
“Assist her, you fool,” Bram seethed to the guard. The guard immediately stood up and approached me, pulling me into his arms as I fought to keep myself from throwing up. I had to have a concussion from the lead bars to the head injury.
Bram stepped away from the Cyclops, allowing the bigger man to fall against the floor with a thud. Then he smoothed his shirt, brushed off his pants and turned to me with a big grin.
“Dulcie, sweet, I would say I was just…in the nick of time?”
Thirteen
“I’d say you came in the nick of time,” I repeated to Bram, suddenly feeling light-headed again as I tried to break away from the goblin. I couldn’t wait to get away from him; he smelled like B.O. and Swiss cheese. Bram immediately appeared beside me and I collapsed into his outstretched arms, wanting nothing more than to inhale his clean, spicy scent, hoping to banish the mem
ory of the goblin’s odor.
“What did that bastard do to her?” I heard Knight’s voice, which was still frantic. “Dulcie, are you okay? Talk to me.”
“I think so,” I said in a small voice, just as a headache started behind my eyes and I momentarily saw stars again.
Bram held me close to his chest but I could tell his attention wasn’t on me. I opened one eye and saw him staring at the Cyclops with stiff composure.
“You will never touch her again,” Bram said in a tone that promised retribution just by its iciness. “I will conduct a strict surveillance over her and if I learn that you so much as touched a strand of her hair, you will suffer the consequences.”
I wasn’t sure how Bram intended to “conduct a strict surveillance” over me but my head hurt too much to think about it any further. The Cyclops said nothing but gritted his teeth and grunted, heaving himself up from the floor before fleeing my cell and elbowing past the goblin guard. I had to admit I was impressed with Bram. Even though he was a vampire and thus, one of the highest orders of creatures, and among the strongest, the way the Cyclops and the goblin responded to him… it was as if they thought he was some high-ranking official. And, for all I knew, maybe he was (I mean, he did have a private portal from Splendor to the Netherworld… Now, more than ever before, I was wondering why.)
“You,” Bram said to the goblin. “Wait just one moment.”
The goblin stopped walking and slowly turned around, his eyes filled with dread, as if he were wondering why he had to be detained when he hadn’t even attacked me. I was wondering the same thing.
“Yes… sir?” he asked, wincing.
Great Hexpectations, A Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy (Dulcie O'Neil Series #3) Page 17